Optical transceiver modules are used in telecommunication and data communication networks to interface network equipment with the physical transmission layer. Industry Standards such as the 100 G Form-factor Pluggable Multi-Source Agreement (CFP MSA), CFP2 and CFP4 MSA, define the form factor and the electrical and mechanical requirements of hot-pluggable optical transceiver modules. Such hot-pluggable optical transceiver modules are widely used in the telecommunication industry for their ability to interface generic network equipment with a wide variety of optical fibers and modulation formats, thereby providing network equipment with great flexibility.
Industry Standards on hot-pluggable optical transceiver modules are in constant evolution. For example, the CFP MSA provides for a transition from CFP to CFP2 and to CFP4, each specifying 100 G optical transceiver modules with progressively smaller form factors. Of course, the same scenario occurs for 10 G optical transceiver modules such as the Small Form-factor Pluggable Multi-Source Agreement (SFP MSA) with the enhanced SFP (SFP+). As the telecommunication and computer network industry migrate from one form factor to another, prior equipment, including network equipment (e.g. Ethernet switches, network interface cards, etc.) as well as test and measurement equipment, may become obsolete. An adapter device designed to change a previous form factor host socket into one for receiving a more recent form factor transceiver module may extend the lifetime of equipment without any permanent physical change to it and may then also provide more flexibility to support transceivers of multiple form factors.
Adapters exist in the industry for fitting transceiver modules of a given form factor to host sockets adapted to receive transceiver modules of another larger form factor. However, as the form factors become smaller, it becomes more difficult to fit the transceiver module and the required electrical connections and electronics into an adapter, so that it fits in the form factor corresponding to the host socket.